Subtitled The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh, this video compilation is an unapologetic, self-produced valentine by and for Mackintosh, England's most omnipresent theatrical impresario. Conceived and taped as a royal gala for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, the production sprints smartly across Mackintosh's long list of hit musicals and revivals including Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, and Oliver! with a huge principal cast, choruses and dancers, and full orchestra, introduced by Julie Andrews. While no substitute for any of the individual shows represented, Hey Mr. Producer! offers a fast-paced revue aimed at both casual theater fans and devotees of both New York's Broadway and London's West End. The cast spotlights both American and English marquee talent, including both familiar musical troupers and dramatic actors who have proven themselves game, if untutored, singers. Jonathan Pryce (Brazil), who proved himself a latter-day Rex Harrison through 1980s stage hits, is perhaps the most ubiquitous, reprising his turns from Miss Saigon and in Harrison's signature musical role, Dr. Henry Higgins, from My Fair Lady (inevitably a set-up for Andrews's arrival onstage). Judi Dench (Mrs. Brown) provides one of the dramatic high points in a devastating reading of "Send in the Clowns," from Mackintosh's production of Side by Side by Sondheim. Sondheim himself pops up, as does one of his favorite leading ladies, Bernadette Peters, who basks, as always, in the spotlight and repays the adulation with several of the show's best moments. --Sam Sutherland
